FROM football to fishing and badminton to bowls — this year’s British Transplant Games will have something for everyone.

The showpiece event, which will see about 1,000 transplant athletes take over Bolton, officially arrives in the borough on Thursday when the opening ceremony takes place in Victoria Square from 6.30pm.

Chairman of Transplant Sport, Andy Eddy, himself a liver transplant recipient, said: “These are truly the friendly games, demonstrating the success of transplantation, the joy of being alive and the opportunity to give thanks to the donor families.

“We encourage everyone to discuss their wishes about organ donation with their families, without which none of us athletes would be here to compete to the best of our abilities.”

Events will already have begun before the grand opening, with snooker, archery, lawn bowls and squash events taking place in the day.

Friday will begin with fishing taking place at Bradshaw Hall Fisheries from 9.30am in a packed schedule that also includes volleyball, badminton and tennis at Bolton Arena, golf at Regent Park Golf Club and cycling at the UCLan Sports Arena in Preston.

Another busy day of activity will arrive on Saturday, starting with table tennis at Bolton Lads and Girls Club, soft cricket at Bolton Arena and swimming at Bolton One.

The lawn bowls competition will take up most of the day at the Bolton Flat Green Bowling club and Bolton Arena will play host to five-a-side football competitions for both adults and children.

On Saturday evening Leverhulme Park will host two running events, a “mini marathon” and The Bolton News Donor Run, where entrants will run a distance of either three or five kilometres.

Athletics events are often the most hotly-anticipated element of the games, and Sunday’s schedule is dedicated to those running, jumping, hurdling and throwing at Bolton Arena.

The event will draw to a close with a gala dinner at the Bolton Whites Hotel, where the achievements of everyone involved will be celebrated.

The British Transplant Games, sponsored by Westfield Health, are intended to raise awareness about organ donation and celebrate what can be achieved when people are given the gift of life.

Transplant Games star Beth Morris, from Stoneclough, will once again be competing in the games, hoping to win a haul of medals in her home town.